Databricks releases, every cloud
- Scala UDFs can access Unity Catalog secrets
They use the caller's or function owner's permissions. Requires environment version 6 or Databricks Runtime 19.
- Time travel queries now enforce ABAC policies (Beta)
Requires Databricks Runtime 19 and Unity Catalog managed tables.
- VARIANT cast extends to ARRAY and MAP columns in ABAC column masks
Requires Databricks Runtime 19 or above. Supports ARRAY and MAP in addition to STRUCT.
- Data Classification now scans Unity Catalog views (Beta)
Scans Unity Catalog views in addition to tables, using the same detection engine, and is currently in Beta.
- Standard performance mode is now available for one-time runs in the Jobs API
Sets performance_target to STANDARD. Supports Apache Airflow's DatabricksSubmitRunOperator.
- External secrets in Unity Catalog (Beta)
Connects Unity Catalog schema to AWS Secrets Manager, appearing as read-only objects.
- Run the change, do not just read it. Hands-on labs in your own Databricks workspace, graded when you submit. Browse labs
- Environment version 6 is now available
Supports serverless and standard classic compute.
- Unity Catalog Skills (Beta)
Publishes and governs agent skills, controlling access with Unity Catalog permissions.
- Context attributes in ABAC column mask and row filter policies (Beta)
Targets request context, such as OAuth client ID and on-behalf-of status, in Unity Catalog policies.
- Identity attributes in ABAC column mask policies (Beta)
Targets users by attributes like department or country, using has_identity_attribute_value and has_identity_attribute_tag_match functions.
- Tags page in Governance Hub (Beta)
Provides a centralized view of tag usage, summarizes governed tags, and offers recommendations for invalid values. Requires account admins to enable from Previews page.
- Define business concepts with Pages (Beta)
Gives business terms a single governed definition, part of Unity Catalog semantics.
- READ METADATA privilege is GA
Provides read-only visibility into security-sensitive metadata, including privilege grants and ABAC policies.
- Tag automations (Beta)
Assigns or removes governed tags on Unity Catalog tables or volumes based on defined conditions.
- Genie One is now available in Google Sheets
Queries governed data in natural language, importing results as native rows and columns.
- Genie One is now available in Microsoft Excel
Queries governed data in natural language, importing results as native rows and columns.
- Refresh materialized views and streaming tables without exempting the pipeline owner from ABAC policies
Pipeline owners are now subject to ABAC policies when refreshing views and tables. Policies are evaluated using the pipeline owner's identity.
- Secrets in Unity Catalog is GA
Stores secrets as securable objects with Unity Catalog privileges. Uses catalog.schema.secret namespace.
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- Upcoming general availability of Unity Gateway Coming soon
Unity Gateway extends Unity Catalog governance to runtime interactions and will be available by default for workspaces with the compliance security profile.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Automated setup for S3 external locations
Uses AWS IAM temporary delegation to configure external locations and provision required resources.
- Databricks-hosted sample datasets available in the samples catalog
Available in Unity Catalog-enabled workspaces through OpenSharing as samples.databricks.datasets.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - July 6, 2026
Updates from Databricks Runtime 18, adds Spark Declarative Pipelines and IP address functions.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Govern LLMs in Unity Catalog with model services (Beta)
Represents a governed LLM endpoint, sharable across workspaces via Unity Catalog privileges.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Comments on foreign tables (Beta)
Syncs table and column comments from external data sources to Unity Catalog foreign tables.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - ABAC GRANT policies for models (Beta)
Grants EXECUTE privilege on models based on governed tags, supporting MLflow and foundation models.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Reorganized Spark Declarative Pipelines on Lakeflow documentation
Conceptual topics are now under Concepts.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Write data from Microsoft Excel back to Azure Databricks
Writes to Unity Catalog tables, overwriting existing ones if needed.
- Write data from Microsoft Excel back to Databricks
Writes to Unity Catalog tables, overwriting existing ones if needed.
- Column popularity is now available in the Catalog Explorer
Shows column query count in the Overview tab, determined by read queries.
- Cross-engine attribute-based access controls (Beta)
Enforces row filters and column masks server-side for external engines reading Unity Catalog tables.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Workspace admin setting for serverless notebook execution timeout
Replaces manual override process, defaults to 2.5 hours.
- Azure Databricks Add-in for Excel support for all compliance security profile standards
Supports all Azure Databricks compliance security profiles.
- Databricks Add-in for Excel support for all compliance security profile standards
Supports all Databricks compliance security profiles. Requires Public Preview.
- Publish a Unity Catalog catalog to Microsoft Fabric (Beta)
Creates a read-only mirrored catalog, allowing Fabric users to query Unity Catalog tables without data movement.
- View run history for scheduled refreshes in Google Sheets
Shows Run ID, start time, and success status for each run.
- Version 18.2
Adds CREATE OR REPLACE TEMP TABLE syntax and upgrades Snowflake JDBC driver to 3.28.0.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - HIPAA support for the Azure Databricks Add-in for Excel
Available for workspaces with HIPAA compliance across all supported regions. Requires a workspace with HIPAA compliance enabled.
- HIPAA support for the Databricks Add-in for Excel
Available for workspaces with HIPAA compliance across all supported regions.
- Faster package installs with %uv pip in serverless notebooks
Requires environment version 5 or above. Replaces %pip for faster installs.
- Tag Unity Catalog functions
Requires Databricks Runtime 18.1 or above. Uses SET TAG and UNSET TAG commands.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud)
Headlines, dates and product areas are Databricks' own, and every item links to the note it came from. The one-line summaries are ours.